In 1936, the Harlem Hamfats released a record with the song "The Weed Smoker's Dream" on it. McCoy later refined the tune, changed the lyrics and titled the new song "Why Don't You Do Right?" for Lil Green, who recorded it in 1941. It was covered a year later by both Benny Goodman and Peggy Lee, becoming Lee's first hit single. "Why Don't You Do Right?" remains a jazz standard and is McCoy's most enduring composition.
At the outbreak of World War II Charlie McCoy entered the military, but a heart condition kept Joe McCoy from service. Out on his own, he created a band known as "Big Joe and his Rhythm" that performed together throughout most of the 1940s. The band again included his brother Charlie on mandolin and Robert Nighthawk on harmonica.[3] In 1950, at the age of 44, McCoy died of heart disease in Chicago, only a few months before his brother Charlie. They are both buried in Restvale Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.
Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant took his and Memphis Minnie's recording of "When the Levee Breaks," which was in his personal collection, and presented it to guitarist Jimmy Page, who revamped it and slightly altered it lyrically, and help record it on Led Zeppelin's 1971 album, Led Zeppelin IV.
In addition to those mentioned earlier, McCoy's songs have also been covered by Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp, The Ink Spots, Ella Fitzgerald, Jo Ann Kelly, Cleo Laine and A Perfect Circle.
Memphis Minnie McCoy-Lawler (born Lizzie Douglas, June 3, 1897 in Algiers, Louisiana; died August 6, 1973 in Memphis, Tennessee) was an American Blues guitarist, vocalist, and composer.
Born Lizzie Douglas in Algiers, Louisiana, Minnie was one of the most influential and pioneering female blues musicians and guitarists of all time. She recorded for forty years, almost unheard of for any woman in show business at the time and possibly unique among female blues artists. A flamboyant character who wore bracelets made of silver dollars, she was the biggest female blues singer from the early Depression years through World War II. One of the first blues artists to take up the electric guitar, in 1942, she combined her Louisiana-country roots with Memphis blues to produce her own unique country-blues sound; along with Big Bill Broonzy and Tampa Red, she took country blues into electric urban blues, paving the way for giants like Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Little Walter, and Jimmy Rogers to travel from the small towns of the south to the big cities of the north. She was married three times, and each husband was an accomplished blues guitarist: Kansas Joe McCoy (a.k.a. "Kansas Joe") later of the Harlem Hamfats, Casey Bill Weldon of the Memphis Jug Band, and Ernest "Little Son Joe" Lawlers.[1] Paul and Beth Garon's 1992 biography on Memphis Minnie, Woman With Guitar: Memphis Minnie's Blues, makes no mention of a marriage to Weldon, but only says that she recorded two sides with him, in November 1935, for Bluebird Records. It does describe the relationships and marriages to McCoy and Lawlers.[2]
After learning to play guitar and banjo as a child, she ran away from home at the age of thirteen. She travelled to Memphis, Tennessee, playing guitar in nightclubs and on the street as Lizzie "Kid" Douglas. The next year, she joined the Ringling Brothers circus. Her marriage and recording debut came in 1929, to and with Kansas Joe McCoy, when a Columbia Records talent scout heard them playing in a Beale Street barbershop in their distinctive "Memphis style," and their song "Bumble Bee" became a hit.[3] In the 1930s she moved to Chicago, Illinois with Joe. She and McCoy broke up in 1935, and by 1939 she was with Little Son Joe Lawlers, with whom she recorded nearly 200 records. In the 1940s she formed a touring Vaudeville company. From the 1950s on, however, public interest in her music declined, and in 1957 she and Lawlers returned to Memphis. Lawlers died in 1961.
New Bumble Bee
Kansas Joe & Memphis Minnie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I got a bumble bee, don't sting nobody but me
And I tell the world, he got all the stinger I need
And he makes better honey, any bumble bee I ever see
And he makes better honey, any bumble bee I ever see
And when he makes it, oh how he make me scream
He get to flyin' and buzzin', stingin' everybody he meet
Lord I wonder why, my bumble bee want to mistreat me
Where my bumble bee gone?
Wonder where's my bumble bee gone?
I been lookin' for him, my bumble bee so long so long
My bumble bee got ways, just like a natural man
My bumble bee got ways, just like a natural man
He's stingin' somebody, everywhere he land
The lyrics of Kansas Joe's New Bumble Bee describe a man's relationship with his pet bumble bee. He claims that the bee never stings anyone but him, and that it produces the best honey he has ever tasted. However, he notes that the bee sometimes flys around stinging people indiscriminately, leaving him wondering why his bumble bee wants to mistreat him. Despite this, the man is still searching for his bumble bee, who has been gone for a long time. The ending lines suggest that the man sees similarities between his pet and a natural man, indicating that the bee has a personality and identity that is just as valuable to him as any human.
The lyrics of New Bumble Bee are a classic example of the blues genre, which emerged in the African-American communities of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The repetition of phrases, as well as the use of questions and call-and-response techniques, are characteristic of the blues style. The song can be interpreted in a variety of ways, but it likely reflects the struggles and complexities of relationships, both human and non-human. In particular, the lyrics suggest that even the most seemingly insignificant creatures can have a profound impact on our lives.
Line by Line Meaning
I got a bumble bee, don't sting nobody but me
I have a bumble bee that won't sting anyone but me.
And I tell the world, he got all the stinger I need
I want everyone to know that my bumble bee has the perfect stinger for me.
And he makes better honey, any bumble bee I ever see
My bumble bee makes the best honey I've ever tasted, better than any other bumble bee's honey.
And when he makes it, oh how he make me scream
My bumble bee's honey is so good that it makes me involuntarily scream with delight.
He get to flyin' and buzzin', stingin' everybody he meet
My bumble bee sometimes stings other people while flying and buzzing around.
Lord I wonder why, my bumble bee want to mistreat me
I'm wondering why my bumble bee sometimes stings me when he usually doesn't sting anyone else.
Where my bumble bee gone?
I am searching for my bumble bee.
Wonder where's my bumble bee gone?
I am wondering where my bumble bee could have disappeared to.
I been lookin' for him, my bumble bee so long so long
I have been searching for my bumble bee for a long time.
My bumble bee got ways, just like a natural man
My bumble bee has quirks and habits just like a human man would.
He's stingin' somebody, everywhere he land
My bumble bee is stinging people everywhere he lands.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: MINNIE MCCOY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind